


It's hard to say goodbye

by Ezra_D_Lee, orphan_account



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Caring Roronoa Zoro, Character Death, Crying, First Mate Roronoa Zoro, Gen, Goodbyes, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mental Breakdown, Nakama, Nakamaship, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Post-Time Skip, Roronoa Zoro-centric, Sick Monkey D. Luffy, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29388636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezra_D_Lee/pseuds/Ezra_D_Lee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's hard to say goodbye, knowing that that'd be the last time hearing the others voice.Or:After becoming pirate king and conquering the sea, it was finally time for Luffy to go, and he knew, that Zoro would understand, he always understood.He understood that their end was near, and that it would soon be time for the final goodbye.
Relationships: Brook & Calico Yorki, Brook & Monkey D. Luffy, Brook & Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Nami & Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin & Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin & Tony Tony Chopper, No Romantic Relationship(s), Roronoa Zoro & Tony Tony Chopper
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51





	1. The end of our story

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, angsty and stuff, yk? Whatever, read it i guess ;-;

"Zoro?"

The swordsman opened his still functioning eye. "What's the matter?"

Luffy smiled softly. He never smiled softly. Luffy was always grinning widely, filled with joy. "Zoro, I'm sick."

A knot started to form itself in Zoro's throat. The mosshead knew his captain. He could read him, when he had to. He knew this wasn't just some illness. "Luffy… I won't stand in your way, when you're ready to leave this ship." 

"I know." Luffy stared into the distance. Slowly bowing his head. It felt heavy. The hat felt heavy.

"You're worried about the crew, aren't you?" Luffy nodded, his smile fading.

"I love them, Zoro. You know that but-", Luffy stopped mid-sentence. 

"-but they don't know you like I do." Again, Luffy agreed.

"I will be there, when you're gone." A comforting silence surrounded the duo.

"Luffy." The captain looked up slightly. "Is the hat heavy?" Zoro's voice was much softer than usual.

"It's a straw hat, Zoro. It's as heavy as a feather.", Luffy answered, smiling again. His eyes still locked on the ocean beneath them.

"... Is the burden heavy? Does it weigh you down?", Zoro continued.

Finally Luffy turned his head, staring at his first mate. "Sometimes. Sometimes it crashed down on me, like seven islands." A dry laugh escaped Zoro's mouth, on which silence followed.

"Are you scared?" Their voices became quieter.

"Why would I be? I'll be fine" Zoro huffed a leaned forward.

"Is this the freedom you imagined as a kid?"  
Zoro knew it wasn't. Not quite.

"Zoro… Freedom isn't something you can have, I know that now…  
You have to live free to be free."

"Live free? Will you... die free?" 

"Yes. I'll die free and without regrets!" Luffy grinned at his mate.

"I hope then you'll finally be able to rest..."

"I promise."

They fell asleep on deck eventually, leaning onto each other.

Then the day came. Weeks later, Zoro woke up, seeing the strawhat next to him. Peacefully put to the side by the owner, finally having served his last day for the captain.

A sad smile appeared on the swordsman's face, as he lifted himself up. He knew Luffy was still on the ship, and he knew, if it was any other member, they would try and stop their captain. But Zoro wanted his captain to find peace in the afterlife. He knew he couldn't give Luffy the freedom he wished for. It was time for him to leave, and Zoro understood.

While the others were still sleeping, Zoro went on deck to find his captain, ready to leave the ship forever. "Hey Zoro…" Zoro could feel the sad smile on Luffy's face, even if he turned his back on him.

"It's time…" Luffy nodded, turning around on last time.

"Zoro-" Finally Luffy's voice cracked. "Promise me one last thing, okay?" Tears ran down his face. "Be there when they need you. Because I won't be anymore." More tears made their way across his face. Desperately trying to smile at his first mate.

"Captain's Order?" Zoro stood there. Not moving an inch, it wasn't his time to grief yet.

"No, Zoro. This isn't my choice anymore. This isn't an order. It's my last wish." Sobs escaped Luffy's mouth.

Silently Zoro made his way over to his captain and pulled him into a hug.

For minutes they just… stood there. Hugging each other tightly. Quietly they comforted each other, like they always used to. For one last time they gave one another the comfort they starved for. For the last time they shed a tear together.

"You're the best first mate I could've wished for…"

"I promised to follow you till the end, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you promised.", Luffy walked a step towards the side boat he had prepared.

"And the end has come today, and that's okay.", Zoro smiled at Luffy, sadness building up inside of him

"I'll tell you about the end when we meet again, I promise."

"I'll look forward to it."

In silence, Luffy sailed away, towards the horizon. Zoro would be waiting for the end of the story to be told. The end of their journey.


	2. Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji and Usopp wake up, and Zoro doesn't have the guts to tell them yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will have more chapters than anticipated y and might evolve into a zoro-centric time travel fanfiction (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

As the morning began and the sun rise in the horizon, the Sunny sailed over the calm ocean. 

The first sunshines woke the ship's cook up from his well deserved sleep, and made him lift himself up from his resting place. Something was off… Something was… different than usually..

Irritated Sanji stood up, to notice that the rest of the crew was still sleeping, well, at least the men. Just a certain marino was missing. And… Luffy? 

Still confused, he entered the deck, and was met with a heavy silence hanging in the air. Sanji was prepared for a hungry Luffy to jump at him, but the deck was… empty. 

Sanji proceeded to walk towards the kitchen, when he sensed a familiar yet so new presence. It was certainly the Marimo, but not his demonic and stoic aura. 

He laid his left hand on the side of the doorframe and leaned forward a bit. "Oi, Marimo." 

The swordsman jerked up. "Oh… It's just you." And Sanji took that personal.

"What do you mean JUST me?!" Zoro turned his head away from the cook, simply groaning as a response.

Zoro never ignored an opportunity to fight with Sanji. Never. 

"You good?", Sanji asked while starting to prepare breakfast for the crew. 

"Cook… Less today." Sanji rose an eyebrow to that statement. Was the Marimo not hungry?

"Just say that you're not hungry." A dry laugh escaped the swordsman's mouth.

"No, Love cook... I'd love to get some food." Sanji knew something was off the moment he woke up, he just knew. 

"Sanji…" Zoro didn't call him that… "...Luffy is not gonna eat breakfast with us today." 

Sanji stopped in his movement, the knife in his hand, stuck in the meat he was preparing. "What? But… he's the captain, Zoro. He always eats with us."

Zoro didn't answer him, instead a great silence filled the kitchen. That was when he heard the moving of a chair. Zoro's chair. "I'd appreciate some sake.", He said and left him.

Luffy wasn't gonna eat breakfast with them. That was perfectly fine. Yeah. He probably ate earlier, yeah. He.. he ate a lot of meat earlier with Zoro, and that's why Zo- "Hey Sanji!"

Oh… Usopp woke up. "Is something wrong? Did you and Zoro fight again?" Eventually Sanji sighed heavily.

"Usopp… Have you seen Luffy today?" Usopp got a little suspicious about that statement but answered honestly anyways.

"No… But I came across Zoro earlier." Understanding Sanji nodded, and continued to finally cut the meat. 

"Why?" Sanji didn't know either. Didn't know why he asked him, when he could just ask Zoro. But he was hoping for assurance from the Sniper that Zoro and Luffy were just playing some stupid prank on him.

"The mosshead…" Sanji let out a heavy sigh."...he told me Luffy wouldn't eat with us this morning…" Hearing it again, Sanji felt like some toddler, not wanting to eat alone. He felt childish.

"Wha- ZORO!" Usopp quite literally ran out of the kitchen onto the deck, shouting the swordsman's name. In the end he found him on the lion head. On Luffy's spot. "Zoro…?"It was a mere whisper this time.

"Usopp? What are you on about?" A shiver was sent down Usopp's spine, when he heard the swordsman's voice. Not that he sounded sick. That wasn't it… Just… something was up with Zoro that Usopp couldn't quite explain. And it scared him.

Usopp decided to step closer, sitting down next to his nakama. "Where's Luffy?" Zoro exhaled. He couldn't tell the Sniper. Not yet. Not before everybody knew.

"Luffy was contacted last night. He told me to keep quiet, but we're nakamay right?" He smiled towards the horizon, grief having long taken over his emotions. But it was Luffy's last wish. And as a friend, he felt responsible to fulfill it, even if it would cost him his own wellbeing.

Usopp sighed slightly relieved. "I was a little scared, you know? Luffy would never miss breakfast. But, do you know when he's gonna be back." 

There was a short break, before Zoro simply shrugged. "Probably soon." The Sniper nodded in acknowledgement and left, going back inside.

Finally Zoro's shoulders fell and his smile faded. It was hard to stay strong for once. For once he felt Luffy's burden, and it really felt like seven islands were about to come crashing down on him.

Freedom. This wasn't freedom. Not Luffy's freedom. Not the one he deserved for so long. And Zoro was glad that the time had finally come for his captain to rest. Without any burdens on his shoulders.

He pushed himself up and turned away from the seemingly endless ocean. He had a crew to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd u like it? Tell me if u thought of a character as too OOC


	3. Chopper is our doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chopper finally decides to tell the crew about the illness...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk about this chapter, ngl. It feels kinda inconsistent. But whatever, some angst i think, but anyways. Enjoy!

Her eyes shot open. Another nightmare. Lately she had to deal with plenty of those. All about being alone. Alone on the Sunny, alone on the islands and alone on their journey. The only one aware was Robin, who slept in the same room as she did. 

Unable to sleep any longer, she lifted herself up, now sitting on the edge on her bed. This was when Nami noticed that robin was probably long up, and that she had slept in. Yawning quietly the redhead stood up, and opened the freshly renovated wooden door. 

A month ago, Luffy came flying through the door and Franky decided to change the design. Nami liked it, to be completely honest, most things Franky had designed looked absolutely fantastic to the cat burglar.

Immersed in nostalgia Nami made her way towards the kitchen, already hearing the voices of her fellow crew mates. “Good morning…”, she mumbled in her morning voice, and was greeted with a sorrowful silence. Well, almost.

“Morning, witch.” Even if the nickname wasn’t Nami’s favorite, at least he greeted her. She wasn’t gonna get ticked off that easily. So she just glared at the swordsman and sat down with the others. 

“Am I the last?”, She wouldn’t bother counting, not with that state of mind. “Second to, actually.” Knowingly Nami nodded, not even recognizing who answered her.

“Are you sure, Jinbei? Who’s missing?”; Usopp asked, slightly confused. Though Jinbei as well, looked a little irritated now. 

“Usopp-” The sniper looked up from his plate. “-Luffy isn’t here yet.” Usopp shook his head.

“Luffy had to go somewhere tonight, got a call or something.”, he explained what had been earlier explained to him. Perplex Jinbei, as well as the other straw hats who hadn’t been informed yet, looked into the sniper's eyes. “Where’d he go, and why wouldn’t he tell us first?” Robin was the one who asked this, frowning, already expecting the worst of the worst. 

Usopp shrugged indifferently, and pointed towards the swordsman. “Zoro told me earlier. I don’t know much either.” Now it was the first mate, who looked up from his plate, after hearing his name. “Luffy told me to keep quiet, but I’m pretty sure we’ll hear from him by tomorrow.”, he stated, trying to look at everybody and nobody at the same time. 

“You wouldn’t go against the captain’s order, why’d you tell Usopp?”Sanji asked suspiciously. With that a frown formed itself on the swordsman’s face.

“It wasn’t an order, it was a request.”, he clarified, leaving the kitchen without any further answers, Leaving some straw hats stunned, others confused and a few worried. Worried for their captain, their family.

“Somebody’s being stubborn.”, Sanji grumbled annoyed, and, after he finished his breakfast, he stood up, to start cleaning his working space.

Brook sighed, not having said anything in the entirety of the heated conversation. “We should have some trust in Luffy.” Nami agreed with the skeleton, for this once at least.

“The least we can do, is wait until tomorrow.”, She points out, and continued to eat, since she just started her breakfast minutes ago. 

Robin pushed herself up from her seat, gaining the attention of the remaining straw hats. “Usopp, could you maybe talk to Zoro?” Usopp straightened in his position and nodded, saying that he understood. “Thank you, Sniper-san.” With that, the archaeologist left as well, deciding that a good book would be the best way to kill some time. 

“Uh… Guys?” The reindeer doctor finally decided to speak up, after the whole conversation had already taken place. “Can you come with me to my med bay?” Reluctantly all the straw hats, that weren’t gone or busy, agreed, and stood up, either leaving an empty, or half filled plate behind. 

When they arrived at the door, Chopper opened it gently, revealing a clean and organized room. As expected from the world’s greatest doctor. “I have to uh… confess something to you.” Chopper’s eyes were locked on to the ground, as if he was scared to see his nakama staring at him. 

“When I ran the monthly tests on everybody… I came across, some information… That isn’t… very good.”, The doctor turned around, and started searching through a folder called “Luffy”, obviously for medical documents about their captain. 

it dawned on her what would be revealed in a matter of mere moments. She’s been suspecting something of that kind for a while now. Anxious every time Luffy had been taken care of after a battle. And it seemed like it was finally time. 

Chopper held a bunch of papers in his tiny hands. “I thought it was a mistake but-” The reindeer’s voice cracked. “B- but-” Chopper broke out in tears, cries echoing through the tiny room they were all in.

“Chopper…” the doctor didn’t hear her, he was lost in his mind, a haunting message repeating itself in his head, over and over again. “...chopper”

“Chopper!”, Finally, while still sobbing horribly, the reindeer looked at the archaelogist, who had entered the room, once she heard Chopper cries. She smiled at him, to Chopper it looked like a genuine smile, directed only at him. “It’s okay. No matter what it is that hurts you, we’ll help you through it.” 

Somebody else had appeared behind her. “After all we’re nakama, Chopper.”, It was Zoro. Also smile softly at the reindeer. He tightened up his nose and wiped away his tears, so he could smile back at the two of them. His two nakama.

By now the whole crew was there, smiling, either sitting on the flatbed, leaning against the wall, or just crouching on the ground, like Robin did, when she confronted Chopper. He tried to swallow down the anxiety, and collect himself a bit, before finally clarifying his actions.

“Luffy... is sick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the chapter-length okay like this, because that is about as much as i write on one day at the moment. And I'd like to update fairly often. 
> 
> And yeah, this is kind of a cliffhanger. Ur problem ;-;


	4. A dying captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew finally finds of about Luffy's sickness ;-;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ik that the chapter's name sounds kinda whack, but i'm lacking inspiration rn, k? ;-;

"What do you mean 'he's sick'?!", Nami.

"It's just a flu or something, right?" Usopp.

"He isn't allergic, is he?" Sanji.

"Is it deadly?" Robin.

"Oh god, he will have to stop being so jumpy and energetic! A tragedy! Whaaaa!" Franky.

"I think we still have a lot of milk on board…" Brook.

"We can go to the next island if you need something." Jinbei.

Only Zoro kept quiet, looking at Chopper in concern.

Everybody was talking at once, but the reindeer couldn't understand what they were saying. He couldn't answer!

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up, to see their swordsman staring at him, with reassurance and trust. Chopper swallowed. 

"GUYS!" Everybody stopped in their tracks, having not expected their little reindeer doctor to scream so loud.

Chopper all the while, quickly locked up to Zoro, smiling with pride, but immediately went back to the serious situation they were faced with. "I can't hear you if you just all talk at the same time!", Chopper wasn't gonna be judgemental in any way, but he couldn't handle all that at once.

"How about we go onto the deck first?", Brook proposed, and the crew, without actually agreeing, made their way outside. The med bay was just a little bit too small for this many people.

"Now about Luffy…", Chopper has gone back to his 'normal' self and inhaled deeply, as if he was preparing for a presentation back on drum island. 

"Luffy has been overusing his body's abilities and exceeding hsi limits since he started using his gears…"

"Then wh-" Zoro cut Jinbei off with a knowing look, and therefore symbolized the whole creek to listen to Chopper first.

"Thank you, Zoro; As i was saying, Luffy hasn't treated his body very well, especially after the separation. He… Came up with gear fourth and the magallan incident happened-" They had only found out about that, after Luffy had just become pirate king, and they visited the revolutionaries. Ivankov had told them.

"-I was able to keep his body fit and stable, and i didn't see any issues with his wellbeing but last month I ran tests on everybody, and i found a virus in Luffy's blood." He paused for a second, letting everybody and himself process the information. 

"This… virus hasn't really been officially discovered, and of course no cure was known to the world. So, i did plenty of research in the last couple of weeks-" Chopper had to get just a few more sentences together, he could stay calm. 

"-in theory the virus would be curable, not easily, but I could've most certainly done it. There was just one problem, If I tried to cure Luffy, his body would die under the overuse and pain. Even Luffy couldn't have survived the process." 

Chopper’s postiture stiffened, doing his best not to break out in tears again. “I- I’m so sorry!”, He stuttered loudly.

“Marimo…”, Sanji’s tone was dangerously quiet and calm, eyes locked onto the floor. The swordsman looked up, grief showing in his brown eyes. “... Did you know about this, when Luffy left?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sanji. How would he know about this?” The sniper was fairly certain that the swordsman felt guilty enough already, for letting Luffy leave at all. He didn’t want him to blame himself-

“I knew.”

Zoro was very well aware. He knew more than anybody on the crew, and it was about to crash down on him like seven islands. He wasn't looking forward to it, but he wasn't gonna back down either, he would fulfill his captain's last wish. 

Tomorrow would be a hard, and nerve wracking day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really short, but I had to end the chapter there, for a good transition? Ig u could saay that ;-;


	5. A not so happy end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nami deals with the fact, that her family was falling apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My titles just get crapier and crapier ;-; But I'm just continuing what I started.

Sanji’s body was shaking in anger, he was… furious. He had trusted the swordsman, whether he admitted it or not, and now he sent his own captain into his certain death.

“So you’re telling me that you-”, Sanji walked in a straight line towards Zoro. “-let him leave, knowing this’d be the last time?!” 

Sanji kicked Zoro, expecting him to block it with his swords. Like he always did.

But he didn’t. He let the cook kick him, making him fly back, now sitting, leaning on the railing.

“Sanji… I’m sorry..:”

“YOU’RE SORRY?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

Zoro lifted himself up, clenching his teeth in pain. The cook's kick really made him feel something, when he didn’t defend himself in any way.

Nami was standing further on the other side while the two of them were arguing… Or whatever they were doing. She hadn’t really been paying attention. Her mind was… blurry… She wasn’t aware of her surroundings anymore.

Luffy had left them. Not saying anything about his sickness. Not even saying goodbye! That idiot! That stupid, stupid captain! Why can’t he just put his pride aside and rest?! Why can’t he ask for help even once?! Somebody else could’ve done, whatever he felt obligated to leave for! Zoro could’ve done it! He was there! Them and their stupid fucking pride!  
“Luffy left us...” She muttered in utter disbelief. Nobody had heard her, nobody thought what she thought. Nobody felt as betrayed by their captain as she did. She, who just wanted a happy end, with her crew, her family around. 

Her mind had caught her, completely disconnecting her from the loud reality, that was until. “Was it so hard to think for once?! Are you too dense to understand that Luffy isn’t gonna survive this time?!” That was Sanji. And he was furious at their swordsman. Nami didn’t like that, no, it was horrible to see everybody disconnect with the others, thinking nobody on the crew would understand. 

They were family, weren’t they? Luffy said that sometimes… But Luffy was gone. And so was their warm and welcoming dynamic. “It wasn’t in my hands to decide! He isn’t a fucking child! He can make his own damn decisions!” They were falling apart. The navigator stumbled a bit. Tears forming in her eyes. She didn’t wanna end this yet. She wanted a happy end! She stumbled further.

“HIS LIFE IS ON THE LINE!” She turned around, tears running down her face. Why weren’t they listening?! They were being selfish! Everybody was being selfish! 

“AND IT WAS HIS DECISION TO GO!” She ran away. Shutting the cabins down behind her as loud as she could. The beautiful design Franky had created, shattering on the edges.

They were falling apart. That was a problem, she knew that, and still…

She was running away from it, again. She was too scared to upset somebody, so she refused to choose a side, again.

She sat down on her bed, the mattress sinking down from her body weight. “I can’t fix this without you, Luffy.” A heavy sigh escaped her mouth, tears slowly drying out, she couldn't do this without a captain to rely on. She was just the navigator after all. She was on the crew to lead them through the dangerous sea, and whether phenomenons. She wasn’t good for bonding, she wasn’t the bubbly persona their captain always was. She wasn’t as social, as likeable, as strong… As convincing. 

That was why she was a straw hat… Because they were her only family she had. A family she had been proud to be a part of. A family that was falling apart in front of her. And she was incapable of doing anything about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna go into detail with all straw hats dealing with their problems ;-; Look forward to some badly written angst y'all O-o


	6. Shattered happy end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro does his best to help the crew. More specifically their navigator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More angst? Yeeee ;-; I'm sorry °-° I'm really bad at writing like, emotions and shit.

Zoro had seen their navigator leave and had heard her shut the door behind her. Sanji and him had been arguing in rage, shouting a t each other. But Franky had asked the cook to accompany him while fixing some stuff on the ship, saying he needed a helping hand.

So now he was faced with the rest of the crew, staring at him in utter disbelief. "Zoro-san" Brook had stepped forward. "I trust your judgement as the first member of the crew. I am not gonna judge you for your, or rather Luffy's decision, i just need a moment to myself." The swordsman nodded, and watched the skeleton leave.

"I think we should all take a moment to breath and think.", Jinbei suggested, understanding that neither himself nor anybody else had a clear mind right now. Wordlessly agreeing the remains of the crew went to their favorite place on the Sunny and spaced out.

Zoro all the while, he stood before Nami's door, hesitating to knock. He didn't wanna intrude, but he wanted to help, and he couldn't do that if he wasn't with them.

Finally he decided to enter, and was met with their navigator sitting on her bed, staring at the wall on the other side of the room, while tears ran across her face. "Nami?"

"Zoro…" 

Nami turned her head, her eyes glazed over, looking right through the swordsman.

He closed the door behind him, and sat down next to her.

"I should probably apologize for letting him leave…" 

She just continued to stare at him, mouth slightly opened and every few seconds a sob escaped from it.

"You were too proud."

The swordsman sighed in defeat, this won't be easy.

"I don't know why Luffy decided to leave this morning. But I know that he had his reason, and that he was perfectly aware that he might die."

Nami bit her bottom lip. More tears streaming down her face.

"He- didn't say goodbye, Zoro."

"I know. And I'm sorry, Nami."

"THEN WHY DOESN'T HE JUST COME BACK?!" 

All her anger went into that one sentence. Her voice was shaking, just like her whole body.

"He's made his decision, and i can't change that." 

Her hands left the bedsheet, and, desperately craving for comfort she hugged the swordsman, who raised his arms in the air in surprise, but eventually he relaxed a little and returned the hug.

"I know it's not your fault-", her breath was uneven and shaking. Everything was shaking. "-but it hurts!", She hugged him tighter, crying into his shoulder.

Zoro answered with silence, comforting her, lost in his own thoughts. Was this the right thing to do? He was helping them, he was sure he did.

But he didn't feel any better. He was just getting worse, but he'd be there for the crew. Like Luffy had asked him to. His own wellbeing would have to wait until the others were fine. 

It wasn't his goal to be on good terms with everybody. He wanted them to be fine, not their relationship. But a hug like this felt really nice. It reminded him of Luffy and him. And that thought comforted him.

"He won't come back." Zoro was brought back into reality by the navigator. 

"No, he won't, and-" Zoro sighed, stressed and exhausted "-i won't say that that's fine and no problem, 'cause I'd be lying. It hurts, and it's devastating, and there's no point denying it." 

Nami closed her eyes. Her body was getting heavy, she wasn't tired, she was stressed and shattered. Her happy end was shattered, and the only comfort she had right now, was the swordsman. 

"Thank you, Zoro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may come to your opinion, thank you ;-;


	7. Silent music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brook is the first to find out through newspaper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this one a bit more, than the last few, ngl. Anyways: ENJOY!

As the day passed by, the crew began to talk among each other. 

Franky and Sanji had spent a good amount of the day together. At first Franky was satisfied with listening to Sanji’s complaints and worries. But his own mind was playing tricks on him. On one side, he mourned for his captain, hoping he’d come back any second. 

But on the other hand he was furious at him. He knew he shouldn’t be, since he didn’t know his intention, but he had feelings too, he had wanted to say goodbye too. If he would’ve just told him.

So the shipwright and the cook ended up talking in the kitchen, while Sanji prepared lunch. After all he was still the ship’s cook, and he was responsible for the crew not to starve. One could taste the difference. Not bad, just more mediocre.

JInbei had knocked on the door of Usopp’s workshop in the evening, worrying since the sniper hadn’t left it all day. When no one was answering, he decided to enter. Luckily the door was unlocked, and he had been greeted by a great mess, and a struggling sniper in the middle of it all. “Usopp?”

The sniper had looked up and sighed, starting to talk about his desperate attempts at getting their captain back, and the spirit crushing failure that they were. Jinbei had insisted on staying with Usopp, and to be honest, the liar didn’t mind the company of the cam and collected fishman that day.

They had started to cope, expecting their captain to be injured to a deadly extent. Who could’ve expected there to be more to it?

Zoro had woken up with a terrible headache, weird. Looking around in the room, he quickly noticed that he was lying on the floor of Nami’s room. Right… He and the navigator must’ve fallen asleep. Speaking of which, she must’ve left already, well, at least she wasn’t here anymore. Zoro yawned and lifted himself up in an instant. What a horrible way to start a morning.

Later on he found out that Nami was with Robin, Sanji and Franky had fallen asleep in the kitchen, and Jinbei was in the workshop with the sniper. Only Brook seemed to be alone in the bar. When he was about to go to said place, a seagull came flying towards the swordsman. “Uh… The newspaper…” Zoro gave the bird a few berries, and took the papers as an exchange. Maybe he’d hear, or rather read, about Luffy today. 

The newspaper clamped under his arm, he went downstairs, planning on building up a conversation with their musician. Step away he heard a slow melody being played on the piano. It was quiet and dragging, but still very beautiful, no doubt. “Zoro-san, come in.” So the skeleton had noticed him.

“Go on, I’m just gonna read the newspaper here, if that’s fine by you?” 

“Of course! But tell me about Luffy if you read anything about him!”

The swordsman nodded, and sat down in the corner.

While listening to Brook playing a slow, griefing songs, Zoro turned the paper the right way, and was immediately greeted with a pitch black headline:

========================

PIRATE KING MONKEY D. LUFFY CAPTURED! EXECUTION IN THREE DAYS IN LOGUETOWN!

Yesterday around 3 pm the second pirate king Monkey D. Luffy, also known as the straw hat, was captured by highly capable marines. He was found guilty, and is to be executed in three days at high noon, in the center of Loguetown.

========================

The article went on about all his crimes, allies, past, and enemies. All together it easily reached a thousand words, way too little for his captain, but more than any other captain beside Roger had gotten. He better surpass that old geezer in something soon. “Is it about Luffy?” Oh right… he had totally forgotten about Brook

“Well, i think you should read it for yourself.” Silently he handed the paper over. 

No music in the background, nobody talking, nobody distracting him. All he had was the skeleton’s facial features slowly turning into ones of grief and sadness.

“Brook, listen-”

“Don’t. I don’t blame you for anything okay? It’s in no kind or form your fault, and I don’t want you to think that. I don’t want you to feel as guilty as i did, while putting the skull of my dead crewmates in the coffin.”

Brook’s right hand rested one Zoro shoulder, and his left one, was putting the newspaper back into Zoro’s hands. 

“But you still have to tell them. They deserve to know.” Brook stayed behind as Zoro stood up, and walked through the exit.

“I’ll hope to see you again soon, captain.”, Brook whispered, his words blurring with the silence surrounding him.

Soon enough the two of them would meet again in another life. After all, the musician wasn’t planning on watching the world end. He’d leave with his captain. 

And hey… maybe he’d introduce his captain’s to each other not so far in the future. 

That’d be his very own happy end, despite this world, and these tragedies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so so so many angsty ideas, u wouldn't believe me ;-;


	8. Fresh air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nami, Robin, Sanji and Franky find out about the new ;-;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My god, this was a rough chapter ngl ;-;
> 
> And yeah, i know that my chapter-titles are crappy, dont judge me ;-;

First to find out after Zoro and Brook were Nami and Robin, since those two were the only ones awake at the time being. The swordsman knocked on their door, almost immediately getting the permission to enter. “ The… newspapers are here.”

Nami suddenly stood up and rushed towards the swordsman, grabbing the papers. Where was Luffy?! “PIRATE KING MONKEY D. LUFFY CAPTURED-” Wha- what?

“Zoro? Zoro y- you can’t be serious-” She didn’t receive an answer. What is it, navigator-san?” Frowning she handed the paper over to her nakama, biting her bottom lip to remain silent. 

“Luffy…”, The archaeologist exhaled in disbelief, eyes locked on the headline.

“Zoro!” Nami’s eyes showed grief and desperation. “We’re gonna save him, right?” 

The swordsman’s posture stiffened, and when he was about to reply, Robin interfered.

“Nami-san. Luffy doesn’t want to be saved.”, smiling at her, she laid her hand on her shoulder. Her head was a little tilted and her eyebrows made the smile look sad and fake. 

The navigator nodded, turned her head away from the both of them. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Hey.” Robin was still looking at her. With her eyes Nami looked back at her, her head still turned away. “It’s okay.” Robin pulled her into a tight hug Finally letting her tears slip. 

Zoro formed a genuine soft smile, staring at the two of them, the newspaper clenched in his fist. They’d be fine. All of them would be fine.

Quietly he left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. Five more to go… Thinking about it… When was Chopper? Zoro restructured his plans, and instead of entering the kitchen where Sanji and Franky were, he knocked on the door of Chopper's med bay. 

When nobody answered, he allowed himself to step inside, and was met with a sleeping reindeer. Zoro sighed, he wasn't wake him up after what happened yesterday, so he just wrote him a quick note, to search for him once he wakes up.

Then he left, remaining silent, and went for the kitchen this time. When he entered he saw Sanji already preparing breakfast for everybody, while Franky was still sleeping, sitting at the table, snoring loudly. 

"Morning.", He mumbled, gaining the cook's attention. He must've seen the paper in Zoro's hand, because he turned away from his workspace and positioned himself in front of the swordsman. 

"Let me read it."

"Sanji-"

"I'm not gonna blame you, just don't keep anything from me." Sanji glared at him, and he handed over the newspaper. It was not like he was gonna back down, he'd just hoped for a bit more talking of teasing.

A dark shadow casted over the cook's face. Neither his arms nor legs were moving a single inch. Only his hands started to grib the paper tightly, probably destroying it with his grip. 

"I will tell the crew.", Sanji declared, and looked at Zoro.

"Robin, Nami and Brook already know.", Zoro explained and left. Maybe it was for the better, if he wasn't the one to tell the rest of them, if he was the one to let their captain leave in the first place.

He went back into the infirmary, seeing Chopper still being asleep. Quickly he ripped the sticky note from the door, where he'd put it earlier, and closed it as quietly as possible. I guess that wasn't his job anymore.

Maybe he should distract himself for now…

Sanji was still standing in the same place as earlier. His hands still holding onto the news. "Luffy-" teardrops soaking the paper and blurring the ink, the headline was written with. His eyes were glassy, his sight blurry, making it impossible for him to see ink bleed due to him. 

"San-" Franky had woken up "-ji" He immediately leaped up from his spot, and ran towards Sanji. "What happened?!" That was when he saw the newspaper. "..." "Is it?"

Sanji gave it to the shipwright. Franky carefully rolled out the news, and ignored the bleeding ink on the front. 

The papers met the floor. Franky's mouth gaped open, but he remained silent. 

"Franky- I told Zoro I'd tell them-"

While trying to keep a steady voice, the cook's legs were shaking, his mouth trembling. Franky was speechless, unable to form a sentence. Luffy. Execution. Captain. Death. Only singular words scattered across his mind, trying to process. "I- Sanji- Luffy-" 

"You don't have to say anything, just- Take your time…", Sanji tried to calm him, and sat down, his posture looking terrible. 

"Sanji- We have- three days left!" 

"No. Luffy made his decision."

Franky swallowed. He had got his mind together. He was supposed to be a grown man!

"I'm sorry. I need a moment."

Sanji didn't respond, so Franky teared Open the door and gasped for air. His mind needed a bit of fresh air…

Still irritated he slid up down on the next wall, and bumped his head on it.

"So this is how you want to end our adventure, huh?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want some comments ;-; Please, im bored, let me answer to questions or criticism ;-;


	9. How are we gonna move on?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the last three of the crew find out about the execution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting effort into my chapter titles, okay? Hours and hours of thinking go into these lines, believe me!

Hesitantly Sanji had prepared breakfast after Franky had left the room. Every move every step felt heavier than ever, his posture was stiff and undynamic. 

The breakfast he put on the table looked more mediocre than usual, and he even hesitated while serving it. 

“Is breakfast done yet?” Jinbei had woken up. “If so, I can get the rest.” Sanji forced himself to answer as casually as possible. “Breakfast’s ready.” 

“You don’t have to act tough, Sanji.”

The cook bit his bottom lip, eyebrows indicating his current state of mind. 

Jinbei didn't go any further and left to get the others for breakfast. Sanji had to figure that out by himself for now. He had a strong mind, he wouldn't break, and if the fishman was wrong, he’d be by his side. As his nakama and friend.

The cook supported himself, by leaning onto the counter, and exhaled. Maybe he’d leave… Maybe it would be for the best if they separated, settled down, and lived a little longer. With Luffy gone, with their captain gone, they weren’t a functioning pirate crew anymore-

A yawn pulled Sanji out of his thoughts. “Morning, Sanji.”, Their doctor entered the kitchen, his eyes still half closed. He must’ve had a rough night… and now Sanji’d tell him their captain was gonna die! Damn it! Why did he leave?! 

For the sake of Chopper Sanji calmed down a bit, and ignored his dark thoughts… mostly. One by one the whole crew came for breakfast, even the marimo, a few minutes late, but at least he decided to show up at all. 

“Did something happen that I’m not aware of? Well, except for the stuff that happened yesterday- That was pretty bad, but- We can fix that, right?” The sniper was obviously referring to the heavy silence in the room that was so unfamiliar to him. This wasn’t his crew…

“Usopp-”, Sanji stared at him, grief reflecting in his eyes and expression. “Jinbei, Chopper.” Now he just had to tell them, explain their captain’s execution.

Somebody, probably Franky, had handed him the newspaper. Just… Read it out, and he’d be done.

“I think it’s best if I just read the headline out loud and. Maybe the first one or two sentences-

PIRATE KING MONKEY D. LUFFY CAPTURED! EXECUTION IN THREE DAYS IN LOGUETOWN!

Yesterday around 3 pm the second pirate king Monkey D. Luffy, also known as the straw hat, was captured by highly capable marines. He was found guilty, and is to be executed in three days at high noon, in the center of Loguetown.”

A single spoon fell onto the floor. 

Followed by absolute silence. The three of them had wide eyes, and lacked movement, until Usopp pushed himself away from the table and leaped up. “Wait, Usopp!”, Zoro had also suddenly stood up, and reached for the sniper. 

“Don’t try and save him-” 

“WHY NOT?!” The sniper's breath was shaking, as he turned towards the swordsman. “Why. Not. He is our CAPTAIN, Zoro, and he needs our help!”

From behind him Robin had laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Usopp, I know you’re angry and- hurt, but- Luffy doesn’t want to be saved this time.”

Usopp was irritated, torn between his judgement and his nakama’s. “Give me a moment-” He immediately headed for his workshop, his safe place. This was the only way he’d catch a clear thought. Luffy was to be executed, huh? His captain. His friend. His family- Was gonna die! Die, as in, gone forever!

The others, all the while, were dealing with Chopper, who was out of his mind. He was absolutely silent, and unapproachable. “I’ll take him to the infirmity” , Robin told the rest, and carefully picked the reindeer up.

Franky stood up as well and proceeded to address the elephant in the room: "What are we going to do now? I mean- we can't just act like nothing happened, right?" 

At first nobody had answered everyone was going through different ideas in their head, aiming for the best of course.

"-I've been thinking about leaving…", Sanji finally started speaking out the thought he had all morning long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been laaaazy~ 
> 
> And hereby i apologize for said laziness ;-; U better accept it :) Ur welcome.


	10. *insert epic and heart wrenching chapter title here* jk haha It's execution day time ;-;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew finds out the execution was successful? What do I hear there? Motivation? Unbelievable ;-;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, the epic and heart wrenching chapter title took me so long to think of, it's amazing!

"-I've been thinking about leaving…", Sanji finally started speaking out the thought he had all morning long.

"Sanji…" Some of his nakama obviously didn't expect this kind of answer from him, but he's never planned to stay on this ship until the end of his days, he had dreams away in the all blue. 

"-Leaving for good, you know?", He continued, his voice sounding peaceful, weirdly enough.

"Nobody will stop you, cook." Zoro looked up from his plate, staring right at the person in question.

“-I don’t want to decide whether you leave this ship or not, but maybe it’s best if we all leave this behind..:”, Brook had been planning on leaving this life behind since he’d found out about the execution.

“I think we should all take some time to think this over.”, Zoro stated and stood up. “But don’t you dare leave without saying goodbye.”

…

Nobody had left in the next three days, still waiting for the confirmation of their captain’s death. 

Once the third morning had begun, the whole crew was up much earlier than the days before. Most of them hadn’t left their room much while waiting for the days to pass. 

Sanji of course had stood up as usual and prepared breakfast, it was his routine, it’s been for years. “Good morning, Sanji.” The redhead was the first to wake up after the cook, and decide to keep him some company.

“Good morning, Nami-swan!” Sanji greeted her, also as usual, this morning was almost normal.

Slowly all the other crew members had arrived, excluding a certain swordsman, who hadn’t shown his face yet. “I’m gonna get Zoro!”, Robin declared and left to search for the marimo. 

“Zoro?” 

In the end she found him on the lion head. “Zoro?” The swordsman turned around and stared at the person behind him. “Robin, what are you doing here?” 

She was surprised by the dark circles beneath Zoro’s eyes, but thinking about it, she didn’t really remember him sleeping much recently. He must’ve had a rough time. “Breakfast’s ready, you should eat something.”, She advised him. Zoro nodded understanding and lifted himself from his position.

That was when the both of them saw a seagull fly towards their ship. The news. Robin quickly took 500 berries out of her pocket and exchanged the money with the papers. “Let’s take a look, shall we?” She smiled at the swordsman, who immediately leaned over her shoulder to read.

\----------

EXECUTION SUCCESSFUL! MONKEY D. LUFFY KILLED IN LOGUETOWN

Yesterday at noon (12 am) the second pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy, was executed, as planned. The island was filled to the brink with visitors who wanted to experience the end of an era first hand. The execution was also broadcasted on every island under the supervision of the world government. 

\----------

Robin exhaled heavily and handed Zoro the newspaper. "Time for breakfast…", the swordsman mumbled while following behind the archaeologist. 

“You’re late, Marimo”, Sanji noted, annoyed, and put the last plate on the table. “Sorry, lost track of time.”, He quickly apologized, and went on to put the newspapers in Jinbei’s hands. “Would you mind reading it out loud?” The fishman simply nodded and indicated for Zoro to sit down just like Robin did. 

He cleared his throat and gained everybody’s attention. “The- newspapers are here.”, He explained and turned around the papers. When skimming over the headline Jinbei swallowed heavily. 

He started to read out the headline and the first sentences, that explained the event a little further. 

“I… think that’s enough Jinbei.”, Brook told him, while laying his skeleton hand on his shoulder.

Zoro clapped on the table to draw attention to himself. “First of all… If you want to read the rest of the article, just take the newspaper, it’ll lay on the table for now. And second, if any of you guys have plans in the future or the desire to leave, I won’t stop you. You’ll always be welcome to come back, as long as you don’t leave without saying anything.”, He explained, loud enough for everybody to hear. 

For the rest of the breakfast they went on to discuss details, plans and their responsibilities. Then, after the majority was decided they started to split up. Some had a plan to go after for now and others simply wanted to think everything over. 

Zoro had taken the newspaper back, and read through it twice, still sitting at the table. His captain's final words were, after a person he asked where the one piece was, "The One Piece is out there in the New World! Go and find it if you dare!" Oddly similar to Roger's, really. Also Zoro and the others were mentioned quite a lot. Often it were either warning, to immediately inform the marines if one spotted a member of the crew, or "informative" text about them, obviously putting them in a bad light for the public eye. Finally after about 2 hours he laid the papers down in front of him and pushed his chair back. 

He didn’t really have any own plans or goals to follow. Much less dreams to fulfill. So he’d just adapt to the others’ actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next few will talk about their separation and their deaths? Maybe? Who knows? Could be... could be...


	11. spilting up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew begins to split up and Zoro remembers something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Over 1000 words, usually minimum, my personal maximum ;-; What an amazing chapter, in telling you :)

Brook was the first to leave, merely three days after the news had reached them.

It was in the evening after dinner was finished. Everybody had something to do, or was dozing off, when Brook sat down beside Zoro, who was sharpening his swords. “Hey Brook..” He said on the sidelines while holding Wado into the sunset. “Hi Zoro-san. I've been thinking about what you said that day, and I’ve come to the conclusion to leave today.”

“I know, Brook. Do what you think is right. But tell everybody first.”, He told him, and stood up. “I’ll gather them for you. You can get ready and pack the last bit.” And that's what they did.

After 20 minutes everybody stood on deck, unsure what to expect. That was when Brook appeared out of the boys’ quarters. “You’re leaving?!”, Franky asked in disbelief, which all the strawhats radiated at that moment. “Yes. I’ve come to the decision that this is what I should do now. So, for one last time…”, Brook jumped onto one of the side boats they had taken with them from the last island, on Luffy’s command. “Goodbye my friends!” The bunch watched him sail away, either lost in their thoughts or still in disbelief. 

About a week later all the remaining crew members had visited a peaceful island in the new world, mainly because of supplies but also to get some space. Chopper along with a few others had decided to go for a walk alone on the island, which was called emerald mountain.

It was a rather cold island, a small layer of snow making it look like a dream landscape. The trees had lost their leaves and the sun was barely shining through. The villages looked lived in and at peace, away from the war and violence spread all over the globe.

In the middle of the island there was a mountain, reached over the thick clouds on this island. The nonice lady from the cafe he had taken a break in had told the reindeer that on the tip of the mountain, there was a beautiful green landscape full of flowers. It was just as cold as it was down here just greener. Apparently an older man, the island’s doctor used to live there, but he had tragically passed away a year ago.

Chopper had been deep in thoughts while walking back to the ship, maybe he should stay here. Make sure the citizens had a doctor but… what if a member of the crew got sick or injured, it was his responsibility to help them. That was when he got an idea. He immediately headed back to the village he had visited earlier and purchased a bunch of vivre cards, 8 to be exact. He’d stay! This would be his place to stay and settle down at. If his nakama ever needed help he’d be there, and prioritize their wellbeing, but this was the last island he’d visit with his nakama. 

“Guys!”, He’d shouted from afar and ran towards his family. “Guys. I’m- I’m gonna stay here!”, He stated and tried to look at everybody at once. “That’s great!”, Robin congratulated him, but before anybody else could say something he held up the vivre cards. “I want all of you to take one with you. In case anybody gets sick or injured, you’ll find me here.”, He gave one to everybody, and two to Zoro. “In case you’ll ever see Brook again, Give this to him.” Zoro nodded 

“Ah! And Zoro-” The swordsman once again turned towards him. “Don’t get lost!” Zoro rolled back his eye and smiled at the reindeer. He was happy for him.

So the rest of the day the bunch was packing Chopper’s things and explored his new home. It really was as beautiful as the woman had described it to be. 

In the evening they all gathered at the coast, Chopper facing the rest. “Goodbye, Doctor.”, Zoro laughed and followed the others onto the sunny.

Tears started to form in Chopper’s eyes. “GOODBYEEE!”, He shouted from the top of his lungs and watched the thousand sunny sail away. A hand laid themselves on his shoulder, and when looking up he saw the cafe lady behind him, also staring into the sunset. “Hatsu.”

Chopper made a confused face.

“My name.. Hatsu is my name, sorry for the confusion.”, She laughed and turned around, “I’m always here, so if you need something just come to my cafe.” Chopper nodde and started to walk towards the mountain, his new home. 

While sailing away Sanji had been staring into the distance, as if he was searching for something. “Oi. Love cook.” He turned his head, and saw the Marimo, looking at him as well. “I know you want to leave.”

“But who's gonna cook for you then, I don’t want you to die from food poisoning.”

“Don’t think we need you so desperately, idiot!”

They ended up teasing each other like they always did. “I’m going to go and pack my stuff. I’ll leave by tomorrow.” zoro nodded and went to bed, no need staying up for the cook, was there?

In the morning, when Zoro woke up, the others had already stood up. After stretching himself he left the quarters and was greeted with the rest of the crew, all looking at Sanji. Right, he wanted to leave today. “Finally woke up, Marimo?” Sanji smirked when Zoro showed some sign of annoyance. After all, some things just never change. 

“GOODBYE! COME VISIT ME SOMEDAY!” 

And with that their cook had left as well. 

Later the same day Robin had sat down next to him, but she stayed silent. “Are you planning to leave?”, Zoro asked calmly and looked at the archaeologist for a few seconds. “Swordsman-san, maybe-” Zoro didn’t pressure her to continue, he’d listen either way. “-Don*t you think I should share the ability of reading the poneglyphs.” 

Right… That wasn’t such a bad idea. After all they themselves weren’t able to finish what Roger had begun, there would have to be a next generation to solve this mystery, and they would need an archaeologist. “I think-” Zoro inhaled thinking about the right way to say this. “Yes. You should.” Robin nodded gratefully and walked away in silence. 

So, as expected, Robin was the next one to leave them. In the middle of the day she walked around on the ship and told everybody that she’d set sail today. 

A few minutes later they had already gathered where they always did when somebody left, this has become far too familiar. 

If Sanji had still been there he would’ve, most definitely prepared food rations for Robin, and wished her goodbye hundreds of times. But the ship was almost silent, one could only hear Franky cry, and Jinbei comforting him. 

But eventually everybody went back to their usual tasks. Only Zoro had been standing there for far too long. Still staring into the sunset, that his crewmates had sailed into. Was this it? What was he going to do when even the last one wanted to leave? Settle do- The hat!

Zoro immediately ran towards the quarter and opened his rather small closet. The straw hat was resting in a previously empty shelf, untouched since the day Luffy had decided to leave. He’d have to pass it on once his crew split up for good. After all there was a new era, waiting to start conquering the wide seas. Their time, their captain’s time was over, somebody else would have to carry on his will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me this is epic without telling this is epic 
> 
> P.s. PLEASE COMMENT! I'M SO LONELY T-T


	12. Final task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Franky has a request. MY GUY HAS PLANS!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mhm... Yes... CHapter titles... my nemesis! ;-;

Two weeks had passed, nobody had left, and by now they were back in a Paradise. "Zoro?", Franky sat down across the table, staring at the swordsman in an unusually serious manner. 

"You want to leave?"

"No, I- have a request-" 

Zoro looked up to the shipwright, telling him to go on.

"I'd like to return to Water 7, but-" Stressed Franky exhaled and supported himself. "I'd want to take the Thousand Sunny with me."

That made sense, if he'd been the last to leave, they wouldn't have been able to get the Sunny back to Water 7 but that meant they'd all split up from there on. "Let's tell the others first."

So they gathered on deck, again. The others had already expected the next crewmate to leave, but instead were greeted with Franky and Zoro explaining their plan to them.

“We’re gonna go to Water 7. Once we arrive, the Sunny will stay there, with Franky. Any doubts or questions?”

“So we are going to split up?”, Usopp asked, almost sure of the answer. It wasn’t as if he was afraid to leave on his own, he’d just not expected it to happen this soon.

“Yes. If you want to leave together, that is your choice, but we won’t sail on the thousand sunny together anymore.”, Zoro clarified, and looked at everybody, to make sure nobody else had any huge issues with this plan. 

So, immediately after they were done discussing, Nami recalculated the course, to arrive at Water 7 as fast as possible. It wouldn’t take too long, maybe a few days, since they were already fairly nearby.

And, as expected, they arrived only three days later, Frnaky had woken up earlier that day, and, when he caught sight of his home island, he started waking up the other crew members. “Then let’s get the Sunny to where it belongs, shall we?”, Nami exclaimed, and the bunch of them got to work.

Not much later, with the ship safe in the harbor, Franky jumped off and ran towards the biggest dock owned by the Galley-La company. All of them of course knew who he was looking for.

(Yes, I’m using the original nickname from the japanese version for this, okay? Accept it, or don’t idrc ;-;)

“Ahoberg!” Said man turned around confused. He knew that nickname all too well “Bakanky?”

The cyborg smiled brightly at his old friend and pulled him into a tight hug. “Franky- I can’t- breathe!”

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t remember you being this fragile.” He apologizes, of course not without teasing Iceburg.

“And I didn’t remember you being this bulky!”

“I take that as a SUPER compliment!” 

They eventually ended up laughing together, it was a nice fresh, or old, wind for the both of them.

“Why are you here, actually?”, Iceberg began, while they were walking through the office building together. “Don’t you have a crew to-”, Iceburg stopped mid-sentence, eyes widened in realization. 

Suddenly he stopped, posture stiffened. “Aho?”, Franky asked, a tad bit concerned. “I’m sorry, Franky-” 

Franky furrowed an eyebrow to this.

“-I’m sorry for being so insensitive-”

Now it finally clicked in Franky’s head. Of course! The world must be in uproar right now. After all, the second pirate king had died just about a bit over a month ago. “Iceburg- Don’t be sorry. I don’t mind some positive energy, you know?” He chuckled a little.

“And about what I’m doing here, I wanna settle down. I’ve achieved my dreams, didn’t I? And my captain, well, he’s… dead. So it’s time for me to end that chapter of my life.”, He explained, merely speaking out his thoughts at that moment. 

“You’re being all deep and stuff, that’s unlike you.”, Iceberg stated, a bit besides the point. “Does the Thousand Sunny stay here too?” 

Franky nodded, indicating that he wouldn’t part with that ship in his lifetime.

“I think I have a good place for it, if you don’t mind?”

“I trust you to find a nice place, worthy of the ship, and I’m sure the others do too.”

So, with the crew’s agreement, and discussing, They all got back onto the Thousand Sunny, their luggage already taken onto land, locked away safe for the moment. 

“So, where do you plan on bringing it?”

Iceberg smirked, staring at Water 7 proudly. “Do you remember that I’ve been planning on making this island into some kind of ship?”

Skeptically a few of them nodded. Still not sure what the shipwright wanted from them. “Well, we’ve already started putting said plan into reality about 2 years ago, but because of some difficulties we only continued a few months ago.”, He explained.

“WOAH! That’s super awesome!”, Franky shouted excited for his friend.

“It turns out, there’s quite a huge roam beneath the island, still within the ship, just below the water surface there’s a huge empty space, only filled with water to the half.”, Iceburg clarified his plans. 

“We’d have to coast the ship then, right?”, Franky remarked, certain that that’d be the case.

As expected his friend nodded.

“You guys should get to work then, right? Is there a place where you could dock the ship and coat it, without a risk of it being found?” Zoro had joined the conversation, making sure to put their plan into reality.

“I have somewhere in mind, we should be there in a few minutes actually.”

And, as Iceburg had promised, they soon arrived at a bay like area. There was no coast, and it wawa surrounded by houses, long left behind. Nobody must’ve touched this part of the island in years. 

“People moved away because of a sea king baby that had unfortunately made his way here about 4 years ago. Of course they didn’t want to kill it, but it was incredibly loud at times and of course dangerous.”, The mayor had started to explain the current state of the district, with a majority of the strawhats staying on board to listen. “To this day, he lives around this area, even though he’s gone a bit away from the coast. He’s also not as active anymore.”

“Did you ever give him a name?”, Nami asked, learning on the railing, while staring into the endless ocean. 

“Yes… Well, not officially, but the townsfolk had begun calling him Prince. Some kids were probably joking about it, and came up with it, after thinking about the fact that it’s a baby sea king. Well, not anymore, but that’s besides the point.”

“What a creative name!”, She joked, smiling into the horizon.

“Aho! We have to get going!”, Franky suddenly screamed from the coast, waving with his giant cyborg arms. 

“Calm down! It’s not like you’re in a hurry or something!”, he shouted back, but he left the ship non the less. Time to coat a ship!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last one of the strawhats being, at least partially together T-T


	13. One last time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally even the last straw hats say their goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment, please, im begging you, i feel so left alone T-T

Jinbei woke up to silence. Sun shining through the window on his right. Groaning he lifted himself up. 

This was unusual, the past few days he’d been woken up by shouting and hammering. Apparently the Sunny was perfectly save for staying under the surface yet, and they had to change some stuff, therefore it took about 2 weeks instead of 3 days.

But according to the silence surrounding the fishman, Iceberg and Franky had finished last night, while everybody was already asleep.

So, as the curious pirate that he was, he left the house, and was immediately greeted with a beautiful and coated ship, he used to sail on. 

“What a journey, huh?”, he asked, staring right at the head of the Sunny.

“It feels like yesterday since Luffy and the crew picked me up from here…” Somebody else picked up on the sentence from Jinbei. It was Franky, standing a few feet behind him.

“Shouldn’t we wake up the rest of us?”

“I’ll do it!” With that, the shipwright disappeared again, leaving to find his comrades. 

“WAKE UP EVERYBODY!” 

‘I mean… That’s one way to do it….’ Jinbei thought to himself, who had jumped up from the sudden loud noise.

Eventually a bunch of tired souls came into his view, all of them had either messy hair, eyebags or both.

“We finished coating, last night!”, Franky declared, and revealed the ship, coated and ready to leave. 

Suddenly the mood was much heavier, despite Franky’s loud voice, all of them seemed to remember that this would be their last time being all together for now.

“I guess it’s time to get it below the surface then, right?”, Zoro asked, while trying to find a way to comfortably rest his arm on his swords. 

Franky nodded. “Iceburg’s still on the Sunny, doing some last check ups, but we should be ready to leave.” That was when they heard the major shouting unintelligible words at them. 

Usopp leaned over to Nami “I think he wants us to join him on the ship”, He whispered, holding a hand beside his mouth. 

Eventually they climbed aboard the ship, everybody’s mind filled with grief and memories. THey were all being far too nostalgic. “We’re ready to leave!”, Iceberg declared from the top. Betting some out of their thoughts. 

With Nami as their navigator, and the help of Iceburg, telling her where the entrance was positioned, they didn’t take long, to get to the giant gate, which was soon opened by the major, with a handprint. 

“Position it however you like.”, He jumped off, once they were near solid ground, and went towards a ladder on the wall. “When you’re done, just go up this ladder, and you’ll be in my office, I have a meeting to attend, but just call me if you need my help for anything.” He waved his goodbye, and left through the door, into his office. 

Hopefully they wouldn’t cause any serious damage, those were the straw hats after all. 

But said straw hats weren’t what they used to be. With the ship positioned rather quickly, they didn’t say much before leaving the ship and gathering at the ladder. With Usopp making the first move.

“GOODBYE SUNNY!”, He screamed from the top of his lungs, tears streamed down his face. “THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!”

Nami’s bottom lip was trembling, her eyes filled with tears, shed because of her crew, her family, that would now go their own ways. Settle down, and and stop conquering the sea, that has brought them all together.

“SUUUUUUUNNY!”; Franky shouted, crying desperately. “I’LL CARE FOR YOU!” That was a promise he’d never break.

Jinbei was the first to get a hold of the ladder. Starting to climb step by step, frowning deeply. 

Only one move away from leaving, he turned around, and looked down. “Goodbye!” He wasn’t nearly as loud as Usopp or Franky, but he felt just as miserable as the rest of them. 

“Goodbye..”, Nami mumbled, biting her lips afterwards to not cry out loud. She followed right behind the fishman, through the open door.

Zoro felt a hand grabbing the straw hat that was loosely hanging around his neck. “Promise me to take care of it.”; The sniper whispered, his voice raspy from the crying and screaming.

“Usopp,”, He started, and put his hands on Usopp’s shoulder. “I think this hat has to be passed on one day…”

“I know, just- Think about it before you make any rash decisions… I don’t want his legacy to be in the wrong hands. I want people to associate the straw hat with my captain.”

“I promise.”

Usopp nodded, taking a step back. “Goodbye…” And with that he left, leaving only Zoro and Franky, who was sitting on the edge, with his feet dangling in the water. “Don’t you want to leave, Zoro?”

“Of course not. But- who of us really wants to?”

Franky shrugged, staring at the Sunny.

“You never cried.”, Franky noticed, only a few tears now running down his face.

Zoro didn't expect this to be brought up, and looked at the shipwright “What?”

“I mean, aren’t you sad and grieving too?”

“Of course! Luffy was my friend and captain!”, He declared. He thought that was fairly obvious actually.

“That’s good to know… Thank you, Zoro.”

“For what?”

“Staying strong. We’ve all been confused and upset since Luffy, you know…, died. But you’ve been as calm and stoic as always, well… almost, but you’ve been so familiar, and… reassuring for me… Thank you…”

Zoro responded with baffled silence. He definitely wasn’t prepared for Franky to be so emotional and yet... Calm, this wasn’t like the shipwright.

They resided in silence for a while, the only sound being the water crashing against the wall.

Eventually the swordsman stepped away from the edge, and turned towards the ladder.

“Goodbye Zoro.”; Franky muttered from behind him, still staring at his feet.

He stepped onto the ladder, turning around one last time.

“Goodbye Franky….”

Franky was trembling, while listening to his crewmate’s step towards the exit. That was their last destination. Their last island they’d arrive at together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually thought about giving Usopp the straw hat, but then I was like: But this story is supposed to be centered around Zoro... He needs a reason to be relevant aside from being my favorite character...

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, lemme know If u want a sequel with the other strawhat in it.


End file.
